spinous process

Information about spinous process

Bone: Spinous process
A cervical vertebra. (Spinous process labeled at bottom.)
Side view of a typical cervical vertebra. (Spinous process labeled at right.)
Latinprocessus spinosus vertebrae
subject #20 97
The spinous process of a vertebra is directed backward and downward from the junction of the laminae (in humans), and serves for the attachment of muscles and ligaments. In animals without an erect stance, the process points upward and may slant forward or backward. Spinous processes are exaggerated in some animals, such as the extinct Dimetrodon and Spinosaurus, where they form a sail- or finback.

See also

Additional images


Cervical vertebra

Median sagittal section of two lumbar vertebræ and their ligaments.

Costotransverse articulation. Seen from above.


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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.
Spine [ edit]
general structures: body of vertebra, vertebral arch (pedicle, lamina, vertebral notch), foramina (vertebral, intervertebral), processes (transverse, articular, spinous) cervical vertebrae: C1 (anterior arch, posterior arch, lateral mass), C2 (dens), C7, posterior tubercle, foramen transversarium thoracic vertebrae: costal facets (superior, inferior, transverse) lumbar vertebrae: accessory process, mammillary process sacrum/coccyx: pelvic surface (anterior sacral foramina, dorsal surface (posterior sacral foramina, median sacral crest, medial sacral crest, lateral sacral crest), lateral surface, base, sacral hiatus
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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The Vertebral Column (singular: vertebra) are the individual irregular bones that make up the spinal column (aka ischis) — a flexuous and flexible column.
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The laminæ are two broad plates directed backward and medially from the pedicles.

They fuse in the middle line posteriorly, and so complete the posterior boundary of the vertebral foramen.
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Muscles may refer to:
  • Muscles, units of the muscular system of the body.
  • Muscles (musician)

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In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote three different types of structures:[1]
  1. Fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones. They are sometimes called "articular ligaments"[2], "fibrous ligaments", or "true ligaments".

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extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
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Dimetrodon
Cope, 1878

Species
  • D. milleri
  • D. natalis
  • D. limbatus
  • D. booneorum
  • D. gigashomogenes
  • D. grandis
  • D. loomisi
  • D. angelensis
  • D.

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Spinosaurus
Stromer, 1915

Species

S. aegyptiacus Stromer, 1915 (type)
?S. marocannus Russell, 1996

Spinosaurus
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The articular processes (zygapophyses) of a vertebra, two superior and two inferior, spring from the junctions of the pedicles and laminæ.
  • The superior processes project upward from a lower vertebra, and their articular surfaces are directed more or less backward.

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The transverse processes of a vertebra, two in number, project one at either side from the point where the lamina joins the pedicle, between the superior and inferior articular processes. They serve for the attachment of muscles and ligaments.
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The State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, better known as SUNY Downstate Medical Center, is an academic medical center and is the only one of its kind in the Borough of Brooklyn in New York City.
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University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (U of M, UM or simply Michigan) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Michigan. The university was founded in 1817 in Detroit, about 20 years before the territory of Michigan officially became a state,
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University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (also known as UW–La Crosse, Wisconsin-La Crosse, or UW-L) is a public university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA.
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Public domain comprises the body of knowledge and innovation (especially creative works such as writing, art, music, and inventions) in relation to which no person or other legal entity can establish or maintain proprietary interests within a particular legal jurisdiction.
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Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (or Gray's Anatomy as it has commonly been shortened) is an English-language human anatomy textbook widely regarded as a classic work on the subject.
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vertebral column (backbone or spine) is a column of 34 vertebrae, the sacrum, intervertebral discs, and the coccyx situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by spinal discs. It houses the spinal cord in its spinal canal.
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The body is the largest part of a vertebra, and is more or less cylindrical in shape.

Its upper and lower surfaces are flattened and rough, and give attachment to the intervertebral fibrocartilages, and each presents a rim around its circumference.
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The vertebral arch (or neural arch) is the posterior part of a vertebra.

It consists of a pair of pedicles and a pair of laminae, and supports seven processes:
  • four articular processes
  • two transverse processes
  • one spinous process


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The pedicles (from Latin pediculus, "small foot") are two short, thick processes, which project backward, one on either side, from the upper part of the body, at the junction of its posterior and lateral surfaces.
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The laminæ are two broad plates directed backward and medially from the pedicles.

They fuse in the middle line posteriorly, and so complete the posterior boundary of the vertebral foramen.
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Spine [ edit]
general structures: body of vertebra, vertebral arch (pedicle, lamina, vertebral notch), foramina (vertebral, intervertebral), processes (transverse, articular, spinous) cervical vertebrae:
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In a typical vertebra, the vertebral foramen is the foramen formed by the anterior segment (the body), and the posterior part, the vertebral arch.

The vertebral foramen begins at cervical vertebrae #1 (atlas) and continues inferior to lumbar vertebrae #5.
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intervertebral foramina (singular: foramen; also called neural foramina). The foramen allows for the passage of the spinal nerve root, dorsal root ganglion, the spinal artery of the segmental artery, communicating veins between the internal and external plexuses,
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The transverse processes of a vertebra, two in number, project one at either side from the point where the lamina joins the pedicle, between the superior and inferior articular processes. They serve for the attachment of muscles and ligaments.
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The articular processes (zygapophyses) of a vertebra, two superior and two inferior, spring from the junctions of the pedicles and laminæ.
  • The superior processes project upward from a lower vertebra, and their articular surfaces are directed more or less backward.

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In vertebrates, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are those vertebrae immediately behind (caudal to) the skull.

Variation among species

In some species, some parts of the skull may be composed of vertebra-like elements, e.g.
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In anatomy, the atlas (C1) is the topmost (first) cervical vertebra of the spine.

It is named for the Atlas of mythology, because it supports the globe of the head.
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The anterior arch of the atlas forms about one-fifth of the ring of the atlas: its anterior surface is convex, and presents at its center the anterior tubercle for the attachment of the Longus colli muscles; posteriorly it is concave, and marked by a smooth, oval or circular facet
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In a cervical vertebra, the posterior arch forms about two-fifths of the circumference of the ring: it ends behind in the posterior tubercle, which is the rudiment of a spinous process and gives origin to the Recti capitis posteriores minores.
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The lateral masses are the most bulky and solid parts of the atlas, in order to support the weight of the head.

Each carries two articular facets, a superior and an inferior.
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